1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to certain mercuric, lead, thallium, platinum and palladium derivatives of neopinone ketal and to a process for preparing them from thebaine or a salt of thebaine. It is also directed to processes for preparing neopinone alkaloid and mixtures containing neopinone and codeinone alkaloids utilizing such derivatives.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Neopinone or mixtures containing neopinone and codeinone can be converted into the antitussive dihydrocodeinone by well known means. They can also be converted to codeinone by the process described in our co-pending application entitled Process for Converting Neopinone to Codeinone, Ser. No. 665,602, filed on the same date herewith. Codeinone, of course, can be converted to codeine by the method of Gates et al.
Thebaine is the major alkaloid in papaver bracteatum; consequently, a process for converting thebaine into neopinone or mixtures containing neopinone and codeinone would be an advancement in the art.